[FuzzyRussianHat]

The 1977 World Baseball Championship was the 31^st edition of the event and the first in a decade hosted in Europe, this time in Barcelona, Spain. The WBC also saw its first format change since 1955 with an expansion as more countries were producing competitive teams. The first round had seen eight divisions of eight teams for 64 total teams. The expansion added two teams to each division, making it eight divisions with ten teams each for a total of 80 teams. Every team played each team in their division still, meaning nine games guaranteed now for every team. The postseason format remained mostly the same with the eight division winners advancing into two double-round robin pools. The semifinal was changed from best-of-seven to best of five, followed by the still best-of-seven championship.



In Division 1, Venezuela gave the six-time defending world champ United States a run as both finished at 7-2. The Americans had the tiebreaker though and advanced per usual, making it to the elite eight 28 times in 31 tournaments. In Division 2, China was the lone unbeaten at 9-0, giving them eight division titles. In Division 3, Kazakhstan won a division title for only the second time (1970). The Kazakhs finished 7-2, fending off three 6-3 teams (Argentina, Japan, Uzbekistan). Scotland took D4 at 7-2, edging South Korea, North Korea, and Spain each at 6-3. It was the third division title for the Scots, who also advanced in 1963 and 1960.

Mexico and Italy tied for the Division 5 title at 7-2 with Taiwan at 6-3. The tiebreaker advanced the Mexicans for their 14^th elite eight berth. In D6, Canada and Australia both dominated at 8-1. The Canadians won the tiebreaker to advance for the 22^nd time. In Division 7, the Philippines were first at 8-1, beating their neighbor Indonesia by one game. The Filipinos advanced for the fourth time in five years and grabbed their seventh division title overall. In Division 8, Russia prevailed at 8-1, beating last year’s runner-up Brazil at 7-2. It is the eighth division title for the Russians, their first since the 1970 runner-up season.

In Round Robin Group A, the Philippines were the top team at 5-1, advancing along with the United States at 4-2. China at 3-3 and Kazakhstan at 0-6 were eliminated. This sent the Filipinos to their fifth semifinal and the Americans to their 27^th. In Group B, Russia went unbeaten at 6-0, advancing with 3-3 Mexico. Canada went 2-4 and Scotland was 1-5. This gave the Russians their sixth semifinal appearance and the Mexicans their eighth (and first since 1967).

In the now best-of-five semifinal, the Philippines beat Mexico 3-1, sending them to their first-ever championship. In the battle of superpowers, the United States edged Russia 3-2. The Russians officially were third place for the third time, while the Mexicans had their first-ever fourth place finish. The Americans advanced to the championship for the 24^th time.



In the 31^st World Championship, the United States continued its dominance, defeating the Philippines 4-1. The Americans now have 21 world titles and seven straight.



Tournament MVP was Filipino SS Jimmy Caliw, the eight-time Australasia League MVP with Adelaide. Caliw in 24 games had 34 hits, 17 runs, 14 home runs, 16 RBI, 80 total bases, and 2.1 WAR. Best Pitcher went to Romanian Marius Patrascu, a closer with Novosibirsk. He had one start and two relief appearances, striking out 28 over 13 scoreless innings with only one hit and no walks allowed. His .025 opponent OBP remains a WBC record as of 2037.

Other notes: Singapore’s Poh Tan had a no-hitter against Belarus with nine strikeouts and two walks. It was the first WBC no-hitter since 1973. Below are the updated tournament statistics all-time. Their finals berth and 1970s success has now put the Philippines into the top ten.